(Posted in this thread because I think I put the last message in the wrong spot)
Hey, new to this message board (and kayaking too, I suppose) so apologies ahead of time if this is a silly question.
I’ve searched the internet and this message board and haven’t found any good solid answers on this one.
I just bought a carbon fiber shaft and blades to make a new paddle. The person I bought it from said to use ski hotwax to put the paddles on the shaft so I can heat it up and shorten/lengthen the shaft at a later date, or change my blade configuration. I’ve only seen one suggestion that says to use hot glue (as in, from a hot glue gun) for the paddles. This doesn’t seem like it would be nearly strong enough.
So does anyone have a suggestion on what to use to glue this? Thanks in advance to all your replies!
Forget the Glue
Your paddle, when completed will be under constant flex while in use. If you were to go with the hot glue it would crack and fail in time.
You will want to use a two part expoy. 3M has several types that are marine based and will work well with carbon fiber.
Opt for a two part dispensor that proportionally self mixes.
There are other things (feather allignment, watertight plugs and grip allignment) that I hope you are up to speed on.
Good Luck
try it
I think the ski wax idea may be a good way to temporarily assemble your paddle in order to try different configurations of blade angle and length. It is certainly worth a try. After you have found a comfortable configuration you can permanently assemble the paddle. I would suggest epoxy resin. You need to be very careful about cleaning all of the ski wax off the surfaces. I would start with clear ammonia, which strips wax off floors very well. If the ammonia doesn’t clean it then a stronger solvent like xylene might be necessary.
Whoa!
No, “ski hot wax” is definately NOT the way to go!
HOT MELT WAX ADHESIVE is a totally different animal. Most often applied via forcing a stick of wax through a heated application gun, sometimes applied by melting the wax ina pot. I am under the impression that some mfgrs use it to adhere blades to shafts. Try a Lowes or Home Depot for the glue and applicator.
Jim
attaching blases
ZRE (Zavrel Racing Equipment) has a nice tutorial on their site about cutting down a shaft and regluing the blades.
Marine epoxy
I recently put together an Epic round shaft carbon kit with Ace Marine epoxy. When mixed it’s grey, which was no problem with blade going into the shaft. It gave me plenty of time to set & check the feather angle. In the past, I have used Devcon 2-ton epoxy.